Aim: The present study was carried out to explore the potential source of contamination and the efficacy of different washing practices towards quality milk production.

Materials and Methods: Probable sources of contamination viz.stored water, potable water, milker’s hands, milking pail, udder of individual buffalo and milk cans were subjected to different types of bacterial counts before the actual experiment to start. Twenty milch buffaloes thereafter were divided randomly into four treatment groups where washing was performed in each step viz. milker hands, udder of individual buffalo, milking pail and milk cans before milking either with water (T0: stored water, T1: potable water) or sanitizers (T2: 200 ppm chlorine solution, T3: 50 ppm iodophore solution) for 60 days. Bacterial counts again were performed for last 5 alternate days for all the sources involved along with the microbial load of raw milk. Data obtained were subjected to standard statistical analysis.

Results: It was found that for all bacterial count stored water contributed significantly higher as compared to the potable water. Among the other potential sources of contamination (log/6 cm2), standard plate count (SPC) and coliform count were significantly highest for milking pail (6.73±0.02) and udder of milch buffaloes (3.77±0.12), respectively, while for Staphylococci count both milking pail (3.24±0.02) and milking can (3.22±0.04) were contributed maximally (p<0.05) than others. Washing with stored water contributed significantly (p<0.05) more microbial load from all possible sources of contamination and too reflected on milk quality (SPC: 7.87±0.04, coliform: 4.06±0.46 andStaphylococci: 3.41±0.01) than the other washing treatments, which are followed by washing with potable water. Both the sanitizers were significantly better than the washing with the water but remained statistically similar (p>0.05) for most of the parameters, even for the raw milk quality.

Conclusion: Study revealed that milker hands, milking pails, udder of animals, milk cans and stored water used for washing of equipment are the potential source of contamination in raw milk. These were counted as critical point which needs attention for the production of high-quality milk. Potable water was found to be better than stored water. The use of either chlorine 200 ppm and iodophor 50 ppm is highly effective in reducing the bacterial population for quality milk production.

Aim: The aim was to study the seroconversion and development of egg yolk immunoglobulins in adult laying White Leghorn hens immunized against an isolate of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) bearing K91 and K88ac antigens, obtained from diarrheic piglet.

Materials and Methods: Adult laying White Leghorn hens were immunized with inactivated enterotoxic E. coli strain isolated originally from a case of piglet diarrhea following recommended schedule. The development of whole antibodies and isotype-specific antibodies in serum and egg yolk were measured using indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Piglets suffering from diarrhea with fecal samples positive for ETEC were fed with egg yolk and compared with diarrheic control group.

Results: The serum and egg yolk ELISA antibody titer against E. coli strain used in the present study was as high as 2666.66±307.92 and 933.33±203.67 respectively on 50 day-post-vaccination (DPV). The immunoglobulin Y (IgY) was the predominant isotype in serum and egg yolk, which reached the peak titer of 2200±519.61 in serum on 40 DPV and 800±244.94 in egg yolk on 50 DPV. IgM titer in serum and egg yolk was found to be meager, and no IgA could be detected. Diarrheic piglets fed with the egg yolk suspension from immunized hens showed a promising result in controlling diarrhea.

Conclusion: Egg yolk antibodies are considered a suitable immunotherapeutic alternative to conventional antibiotic therapy. High titer of egg yolk antibodies raised in the immunized hen against an isolate of ETEC holds the potential to be used for passive protection of diarrheic piglets during their most susceptible period of infection.

Aim: This study was aimed to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, predictive value and accuracy of ultrasonography in pregnancy rate (PR) prediction in Sahelian goats after progesterone impregnated sponge synchronization within the framework of caprine artificial insemination (AI) program in Fatick (Senegal).

Materials and Methods: Of 193 candidate goats in AI program, 167 were selected (day 50) in six villages. Estrus was synchronized by progesterone impregnated sponges installed for 11 days. Two days before the time of sponge removal (day 4), each goat was treated with 500 IU of equine chorionic gonadotropin and 50 μg of dcloprostenol. All goats were inseminated (day 0) with alpine goat semen from France at 45±3 h after sponge removal (day 2). Real-time B-mode ultrasonography was performed at day 50, day 13, day 0, day 40 and day 60 post-AI.

Conclusion: These results indicate that the TU can be performed in goats under traditional condition and emphasized the importance of re-examination of goats with negative or doubtful TU diagnoses performed at day 40 post-AI.

Open-access journals are scholarly journals that are available online to the reader "without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself."[1] Some are subsidized, and some require payment on behalf of the author.

There have also been several modifications of open-access journals that have considerably different natures: hybrid open-access journals and delayed open-access journals. Open-access journals (sometimes called "the gold road to open access") are one of the two general methods for providing open access. The other one (sometimes called the "green road") is self-archiving in a repository. The publisher of an open-access journal is known as an "open-access publisher", and the process, open-access publishing".

In successively looser senses, open-access journals may be considered as:

Journals entirely open access

Journals with research articles open access (hybrid open access journals)

Journals with some research articles open access (hybrid open access journals)

Many journals have been subsidized ever since the beginnings of scientific journals.[citation needed] It is common for those countries with developing higher educational and research facilities to subsidize the publication of the nation's scientific and academic researchers, and even to provide for others to publish in such journals, to build up the prestige of these journals and their visibility.[citation needed] Such subsidies have sometimes been partial, to reduce the subscription price, or total, for those readers in the respective countries, but are now often universal.[citation needed]

One of the very first[3] online journals, GeoLogic, Terra NOVA,[4] was published by Paul Browning and started in 1989. It was not a discrete journal but an electronic section ofTerraNova. The journal ceased to be open access in 1997 due to a change in the policy of the editors (EUG) and publishing house (Blackwell).[citation needed]

Full-blown scientific journals followed. In 1998, one of the first open-access journals in medicine was created, the Journal of Medical Internet Research,[5] publishing its first issue in 1999. One of the more unusual models is utilized by the Journal of Surgical Radiology, which uses the net profits from external revenue to provide compensation to the editors for their continuing efforts.[6]

In the biological and geological sciences, paleontology came into the forefront in 1998 with Palaeontologia Electronica,[7] which quickly became the most-read paleontological journal in any format.[citation needed] One challenge to digital-only biological journals was the lack of protection afforded by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature to scientific names published in formats other than paper, but this was overcome by revisions to the Code in 1999 (effective January 1, 2000).[citation needed]

Fee-based open-access journals require payment on behalf of the author. The money might come from the author but more often comes from the author's research grant or employer. In cases of economic hardship, many journals will waive all or part of the fee. (This generally includes instances where the authors come from a less developed economy). Journals charging publication fees normally take various steps to ensure that editors conducting peer review do not know whether authors have requested, or been granted, fee waivers, or to ensure that every paper is approved by an independent editor with no financial stake in the journal. While the payments are normally incurred per article published (e.g.BMC journals or PLOS ONE), there are some journals that apply them per manuscript submitted (e.g. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics) or per author (PeerJ).

No-fee open-access journals use a variety of business models. As summarized by Peter Suber:[8] "Some no-fee OA journals have direct or indirect subsidies from institutions like universities, laboratories, research centers, libraries, hospitals, museums, learned societies, foundations, or government agencies. Some have revenue from a separate line of non-OA publications. Some have revenue from advertising, auxiliary services, membership dues, endowments, reprints, or a print or premium edition. Some rely, more than other journals, on volunteerism. Some undoubtedly use a combination of these means".

Advantages and disadvantages of open-access journals are the subjects of much discussion amongst scholars and publishers. Reactions of existing publishers to open-access journal publishing have ranged from moving with enthusiasm to a new open-access business model, to experiments with providing as much free or open access as possible, to active lobbying against open-access proposals.[9] There are many publishers that started up as open-access publishers, such as BioMed Central and Public Library of Science.

A few obvious advantages of open-access journals include the free access to scientific papers regardless of affiliation with a subscribing library, lower costs for research in academia and industry, in addition to improved access for the general public and higher citation rates for the author.[10] However, a recent study concluded that overall citation rates for a time period of 2 years (2010/11) were 30% higher for subscription journals. After controlling for discipline, age of the journal and the location of the publisher, the differences largely disappeared in most subcategories except for journals that had been launched prior to 1996.[11]

The main argument against open-access journals is the possible damage to the peer review system, diminishing the overall quality of scientific journal publishing. For example in 2009, a hoax paper generated by a computer program was accepted for publication by a major publisher under the author-pays-for-publication model.[12] In a similar incidence, a staff writer for Science magazine and popular science publications targeted the open-access system in 2013 by submitting to a number of such journals a deeply flawed paper on the purported effect of a lichen constituent. About 60% of those journals, including the Journal of Natural Pharmaceuticals, accepted the faked medical paper, although PLOS ONE, the most established one, did reject it.[13] As a result, this experiment was criticised for being not peer-reviewed itself and for having a flawed methodology and lack of a control group.[14][15] Many newer open-access journals also lack the reputation of their subscription counterparts, which have been in business for decades. This effect has been diminishing though since 2001, reflecting the emergence of high quality professional open-access publishers such as PLOS and BioMedCentral.[16]

Opponents of the open-access model continue to assert that the pay-for-access model is necessary to ensure that the publishers are adequately compensated for their work. Scholarly journal publishers that support pay-for-access claim that the "gatekeeper" role they play, maintaining a scholarly reputation, arranging for peer review, and editing and indexing articles, require economic resources that are not supplied under an open-access model. Opponents claim that open access is not necessary to ensure fair access for developing nations; differential pricing, or financial aid from developed countries or institutions can make access to proprietary journals affordable. Some critics also point out the lack of funding for author fees.[17]

There are several major directories of open-access journals, most notably Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Each has its own special standards for what journals are included.

Articles in the major open-access journals are included in the standard bibliographic databases for their subject, such as PubMed. Those established long enough to have an impact factor, and otherwise qualified, are in Web of Science and Scopus. DOAJ includes indexing for the individual articles in some but not all of the many journals it includes.

Pioneers in open-access publishing in the biomedical domain were journals like the BMJ, Journal of Medical Internet Research, and Medscape, who were created or made their content freely accessible in the late 90s.[18]BioMed Central, a for-profit publisher with now dozens of open-access journals, published its first article in the year 2000.[19] The Public Library of Science launched its first open-access journal, PLOS Biology in 2003, with PLOS Medicine following in 2004, and PLOS ONE in 2006.[19]

One Health is the integrative effort of multiple disciplines working locally, nationally, and globally to attain optimal health for people, animals, and the environment. Because of their expertise, veterinarians play critical roles in the health of animals, humans, and even the environment, but these roles are often overlooked or unrecognized. Nonetheless, veterinary medicine is the only profession that routinely operates at the interface of these three components of One Health.The concept behind One Health has existed for centuries – from Hippocrates' "On Airs, Waters, and Places" (estimated 400 BC) to the AVMA's webpage you're reading today. Some of the greats who have contributed to One Health include individuals such as Giovanni Lancisi, Louis-Rene Villerme, Rudolf Virchow,William Osler, Louis Pasteur, Robert Koch, Rachel Carson, former Assistant Surgeon General James Steele, and Calvin Schwabe, just to name a few. Dr. Schwabe captured the term "One Medicine" in his book, Veterinary Medicine and Human Health, and it was in honor of him that the AVMA's One Health Initiative Task Force (OHITF) dedicated its final report.As the human population continues to increase and expand across our world, the interconnection of people, animals, and our environment becomes more significant and impactful. The importance of One Health is highlighted by many factors in our world today:

The world's total population exceeded 7 billion people in 2011, and it continues to climb.

As our population expands geographically, the contact between human and wild animal habitats increases, introducing the risk of exposure to new viruses, bacteria and other disease-causing pathogens.

Advancing technologies and science-based evidence is increasing the awareness, knowledge, and understanding of the interdependency of the health of humans, animals, and the environment.

The human-animal bond continues to grow throughout societies.

It is estimated that at least 75% of emerging and re-emerging diseases are either zoonotic (spread between humans and animals) or vector-borne (carried from infected animals to others through insects).

Vigilant protection of our food and feed supplies from food-borne diseases, contamination, and acts of terrorism is critical for human and animal health.

Contamination by personal care products and pharmaceuticals has been detected in our waters.

Aim: The present study was described thin layer chromatography (TLC) and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) method for the detection of antibacterial substances in poultry muscle (breast and thigh), kidney, and liver.

Materials and Methods: TLC method was used for screening detection of tetracycline, amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin, and enrofloxacin residues in poultry tissues. The samples were extracted with trichloroacetic acid (30%), diethyl ether, followed by detection in pre-coated TLC paper on ultraviolet detector. The UHPLC method was used for the quantification of antimicrobial residues in poultry tissues.

Results: The residues of tetracycline were 48% in livers, 24% in kidneys, 20% in thigh muscles, and 24% in breast muscles. Ciprofloxacin residues were found 44% in liver, 42% in kidneys, 34% in thigh muscles and 30% in breast muscles. Enrofloxacin residues were found 40% in liver, 34% in kidneys, 22% in thigh muscles, and 18% in breast muscles. Amoxicillin residues were found 42% in liver, 30% in kidneys, 26% in thigh muscles and 22% in breast muscles. Most of the cases highest residues were found in liver such as tetracycline (48%), ciprofloxacin (44%), enrofloxacin (40%) and amoxicillin (42%) and almost lowest in breast muscles. In addition, nine positive samples from broiler were selected for amoxicillin residue quantification by UHPLC. It was observed that the concentration of amoxicillin residue in liver was ranging from 16.92 μg/kg to 152.62 μg/kg and in breast muscle was 45.38 μg/kg to 60.55 μg/kg, respectively. The maximum and minimum peak time was 4.7-5.2 min. Among the poultry tissues, liver had the highest level of antibiotic residues in comparison to other samples but the variation was not significant (p>0.05).

Conclusions: Evidence suggests that more judicious use of antimicrobials in food animals will reduce the selection of resistant bacteria and help to preserve these valuable drugs for both human and veterinary medicine. The method described in this study is a simple, easy inexpensive which can be readily adopted by any laboratory for the detection of antibiotic residues in tissues of food-producing animals.

Aim: The present study was undertaken in Salem Black goat population for genetic analysis at molecular level to exploit the breed for planning sustainable improvement, conservation and utilization, which subsequently can improve the livelihood of its stakeholders.

Materials and Methods: Genomic DNA was isolated from blood samples of 50 unrelated Salem Black goats with typical phenotypic features in several villages in the breeding tract and the genetic characterization and bottleneck analysis in Salem Black goat was done using 25 microsatellite markers as recommended by the Food and Agricultural Organization, Rome, Italy. The basic measures of genetic variation were computed using bioinformatic software. To evaluate the Salem Black goats for mutation drift equilibrium, three tests were performed under three different mutation models, viz., infinite allele model (IAM), stepwise mutation model (SMM) and two-phase model (TPM) and the observed gene diversity (He) and expected equilibrium gene diversity (Heq) were estimated under different models of microsatellite evolution.

Results: The study revealed that the observed number of alleles ranged from 4 (ETH10, ILSTS008) to 17 (BM64444) with a total of 213 alleles and mean of 10.14±0.83 alleles across loci. The overall observed heterozygosity, expected heterozygosity, inbreeding estimate and polymorphism information content values were 0.631±0.041, 0.820±0.024, 0.233±0.044 and 0.786±0.023 respectively indicating high genetic diversity. The average observed gene diversities (He) pooled over different markers was 0.829±0.024 and the average expected gene diversities under IAM, TPM and SMM models were 0.769±0.026, 0.808±0.024 and 0.837±0.020 respectively. The number of loci found to exhibit gene diversity excess under IAM, TPM and SMM models were 18, 17 and 12 respectively.

Conclusion: All the three statistical tests, viz., sign test, standardized differences test and Wilcoxon sign rank test, revealed significant deviation of Salem Black goats from mutation-drift equilibrium under IAM and TPM models, however, nonsignificant deviation under SMM model. The qualitative test of mode shift analysis supported the results under SMM indicating the absence of the genetic bottleneck in the recent past in Salem Black goats.

Aim: The aim was to evaluate the estrus response, conception rate and plasma profile of progesterone, protein and cholesterol following use of different hormonal protocols in anestrus and repeat breeding buffaloes.

Materials and Methods: This study was carried out on 20 true anestrus, 20 repeat breeders, and 10 normal cyclic buffaloes. Ten anestrus buffaloes each were treated with standard controlled internal drug releasing (CIDR) i/vg device and Ovsynch (GPG) protocols with fix timed artificial insemination (FTAI), and blood samples were obtained on day 0, 7, 9/10 (AI) of treatment and day 21 post-AI. Ten repeat breeding buffaloes with mature mid-cycle palpable corpus luteum (CL) were treated with i/m injection of 25 mg prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α) with FTAI twice at 72 and 96 h later, whereas other ten repeat breeding buffaloes in standing estrus were inseminated with simultaneous i/m injection of buserelin acetate-gonadotropinreleasing hormone (GnRH) 20 μg. 10 buffaloes exhibiting first estrus within 90 days postpartum and inseminated without any treatment served as normal cyclic control. Blood samples were obtained on day of PG injection, day of AI and day 21 post-AI for estimation of plasma progesterone, protein, and cholesterol.

Results: CIDR and Ovsynch protocols resulted in 100 and 80% induction of estrus with conception rates of 40 and 30% at induced estrus, respectively, in anestrus buffaloes. Mid-cycle PGF2α treatment resulted in 90% estrus induction and 40% conception rate at induced estrus, while Buserelin acetate-GnRH 20 μg injection at AI resulted in 30% conception rate in repeat breeders. In normal cyclic control group also, the first service conception rate was 30%. The mean plasma progesterone concentrations on day 0, 7, 9/10 (AI) of treatment and on day 21 post-AI were found to be significantly (p<0.05) different in both CIDR and Ovsynch protocols, being higher on day 7 (day of PG injection) and on day 21 post-AI than on day 0 and 9/10 (FTAI), which were near basal levels. The mean plasma progesterone level was significantly (p<0.01) higher on the day of initiation of mid-cycle PGF2α treatment (3.81±0.67 ng/ml) in a repeat breeding buffaloes suggesting luteal phase. The mean plasma P4 levels on day 21 post-AI were significantly (p<0.01) higher than on the day of estrus in both repeat breeders and in normal cyclic controls. The plasma P4 value on day 21 post-AI was significantly (p<0.01) higher in conceived than non-conceived buffaloes in all five groups. The mean plasma total cholesterol and total protein concentrations in anestrus and repeat breeding buffaloes under different treatments did not vary significantly between sampling days. However the cholesterol content was significantly (p<0.05) lower (79.96±2.17 vs. 92.27±6.04 mg/dl) and protein higher (8.14±0.73 vs. 7.69±0.59 g/dl) in conceived than non-conceived animals. In both anestrus and repeat breeding buffaloes, the values of cholesterol and protein were significantly lower than in normal cyclic control group (138.04±11.98 mg/dl and 7.82±0.11 g/dl, respectively).

Conclusion: The results showed that CIDR was better than Ovsynch protocol in inducing fertile estrus in anestrus buffaloes, while mid-cycle PG treatment was superior over AI + GnRH in repeat breeders, and all four treatment protocols significantly influenced plasma P4 profile, but not the protein or cholesterol.

Aim: The present study is a part of a research project on integrated pest management of livestock pests with reference to Culicoides spp. Study of prevalence, population dynamics and host preferences are the important benchmarks essential for chalking out the strategies of integrated pest management of Culicoides, thus the study was aimed.

Materials and Methods: Light trap collections of Culicoides midges and other tiny flies from animal shed from seventeen centers representing entire Maharashtra state were conducted. Similarly, year round collections from host sheds were envisaged to work out host preferences and population dynamics of Culicoides spp. locally prevalent. Multiple regression analysis was employed to define the environmental predictors responsible for ups and downs during different seasons occurring in the geographic region of the present study.

Results: Study revealed the prevalence of Culicoides spp., Phlebotomus spp. and Simulium spp. Simultaneous study undertaken by the aid of hand net, collections of fly species from Marathwada region of Maharashtra state yielded additionally, Tabanus spp., Pangonia spp., mosquitoes and other cyclorrhaphan flies. Some of the species are vectors of livestock diseases hence map of the distribution of these pest species is for to reckon risk areas. Population dynamics study on Culicoides spp. in Marathwada region indicated that, (a) Culicoidespopulation were persistent throughout the year; (b) Two peaks of population, one in the monsoon (August-September) and another minor peak occurred during post monsoon/beginning of winter (November) of the year. Drastic reduction in the population occurred during the month of May, which is the hottest month in the year. Culicoides collections from the sheds of different host species indicated the preferences for feeding in the ascending order of preference as cattle, sheep, buffaloes and then goats.

Conclusion: Prevalence of Culicoides schultzei, Culicoides peregrinus and Culicoides actoni was occurred in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra along with other haematophagus flies. Seasonal population dynamic studies depicted two peaks in the Culicoides population, and peak population observed during the monsoon season. Study on the parameters is essential for the preparation of prediction models and forecasting.

Aim: To clone the Salmonella Typhimurium protein L-isoaspartyl O-methyl transferase (PIMT) enzyme and to analyze the sequence withPIMT gene of other pathogenic serovars of Salmonella.

Materials and Methods: Salmonella Typhimurium strain E-2375 was procured from the National Salmonella Center, IVRI. The genomic DNA was isolated from Salmonella Typhimurium. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was carried out to amplify PIMT gene using the designed primers. The PCR product was cloned into pET28c plasmid vector and transformed into Escherichia coli DH5α cells. The plasmid was isolated from E. coli and was sequenced. The sequence was analyzed and submitted in Genbank.

Conclusions: PIMT gene of Salmonella is highly conserved in most of the pathogenic Salmonella serovars. The PIMT clone can be used to isolate PIMT protein. This PIMT protein will be helpful to identify isoaspartate containing proteins thus can help in study Salmonella virulence.